Theme and What is it?

Penk! is a Yahtzee style game where you’re trying to score sets of numbers in an array by rolling and rerolling dice. It really is that simple.

Gameplay Mechanics

Penk! uses a dice rolling mechanic referred to as the Yahtzee method. Basically you roll six dice on your turn. You can reroll some or all of the dice twice. You can reroll dice on your third roll that you didn’t reroll on your second. After you’re done with your rolls you separate the dice into sets of a given number between one and five. There is a wild on the dice. You can add one wild symbol to each set and the wild can’t be played by itself.

Each set you create marks a spot on your score sheet. The score sheet is a five by five grid. Across the top are the dice numbers and down the side are the number of dice. Cross reference your numbers and mark off up to three boxes on your sheet. When someone fills in an entire row or column then empty spaces on that line on other player’s sheets are filled in.

When a player has two full columns the end game is triggered. Add up the total for all of your rows and columns and that’s your score. Highest points total wins.

Initial Impressions

The box and rules are very simple and unassuming. It didn’t stand out to me in any way. I honestly didn’t have an opinion one way or the other about this game. Even after reading the rules I just felt that at best it would be a good filler game.

Game Build Quality

The components are fine. The dice are solid and roll well. They’re easy to read and I thought they worked the way dice should. The score sheets are decent for what they do. I wish they had been double sided to avoid throwing a lot away. If I decide to add this game to my collection I’ll probably laminate a couple of the sheets to use with dry erase markers.

The rules are well written and clear. There are good examples included. Overall everything was good quality.

Fun Factor

This is a random filler game. When I say it’s Yahtzee like I mean it. There aren’t a lot of decisions to make and the game play is heavily luck dependent. However, a full game takes around fifteen minutes to play. It’s really not going to try and overstay its welcome. It’s a nice wait for the next round/game/opening style of game.

Age Range & Weight

The box says 8+ and yep. It’s pretty much that. There aren’t a lot of hard decisions and it’s easy to play and teach. Kids can pick up what they’re trying to do and what squares they need to fill in on their score sheet.

As for weight. I’ve said it a couple of times, but it’s a filler game. There isn’t a lot of decisions to make and you can easily talk about what you’re going to do next while playing.

Conclusions

I want to be clear on this. This is a filler game and that’s not bad. It fits in to a nice slot and does its job well. It’s also very small. You can carry this in your pocket. Will I keep it? Probably. Not because it wowed me but because it’s an easy fast play that will go nicely in my box of mini games that I use for fillers. It will also be a good game for my family. They aren’t gamers and sometimes we play things like this because they’re fast and easy.

In the end, I’ve found the game online for around $10 and that’s not bad for what it does. I still recommend trying it out first. However, I think you might enjoy this quick little experience.

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